The chairman of the Village’s Taste of Oak Brook Committee couldn’t immediately come up with any ideas to improve future Taste events, after good weather and smooth sailing made for large crowds and, by all accounts, a very successful day on July 3 for the village’s biggest annual function.
But that committee chairman, Village Board member Michael Manzo, will be listening soon to any ideas from other members and Village staff that might make for an even better Taste in 2025.
“We’ll be meeting in the next couple of weeks to talk over how everything went and any ideas, based on this year, that someone might have for next year,” Manzo said. “It’s very recently that we started meeting soon after Taste because we wanted to talk it over while it was still fresh in everyone’s mind. And I definitely think that’s been a very positive change.”
Manzo said the committee and staff used to hold monthly meetings, but in the past couple of years have greatly increased the frequency as it gets closer to the annual July 3 Taste.
“I believe the turnaround is a result to our new village manager and staff, who have taken ownership and worked so hard to make it a success,” he said. “Also the generous new sponsors have greatly contributed to the tremendous success of our Taste of Oak Brook. The additional kids activities. plus the new drone shows were a big hit this year. We have received very favorable response from residents and visitors about this year’s Taste.”
The new sponsors were important because McDonald’s used to donate $100,000 each year to cover the costs of a big fireworks show at the end of Taste.
Oak Brook received an all-time high of $150,000 from sponsors.
The five biggest sponsors for the 2024 Taste of Oak Brook are presenting sponsor, CD Peacock; fireworks sponsor, Wintrust; stage sponsor, Food Brothers Disposal; cabana sponsor, Ace Hardware; beer tent sponsor, Alter Brewing+Kitchen; and kids activity sponsor, Oak Brook Reserve.
“The sponsors, Village staff, and our police and fire departments really contributed a lot to make this the best Taste we’ve had, and everyone seems very pleased to be a part of it,” Manzo said.
New to this year’s Taste were a drone show that opened and closed the fireworks display, nine new restaurants/food vendors, a community tent with picnic tables for seating in the shade, an expanded children’s area with an inflatable slide and bouncy house, and moving away from the traditional ticket system for food and beverage to purchases being made by cards.
Taste of Oak Brook had 26 sponsors, 14 participating restaurants/food vendors, a beer garden, music performances by Sixteen Candles and Modern Day Romeos, and a DJ.
Manzo said it’s particularly gratifying to have had what he calls, “the best Taste of Oak Brook ever,” after having the event canceled for three consecutive years — 2019 because of heavy rains that flooded the grounds and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
“The Taste continues to grow and evolve and has become a summer holiday tradition for so many people,” Village Manager Greg Summers said. “Visitors came from all over the Chicagoland area to enjoy delicious food and drink from our participating restaurants and listen to the sounds of live music, before enjoying the most spectacular fireworks show in the western suburbs.”
Village officials estimated attendance at 37,000 to 40,000 throughout the day.
“The Taste of Oak Brook is our signature annual village event and showcases Oak Brook’s excellence,” Village President Larry Herman said. “This Taste of Oak Brook exceeded our already lofty expectations on all levels — attendance, logistics, enjoyment, and financial performance. It was all hands on deck for our truly dedicated village employees, and I’m so proud of how they performed to make it such a successful event.”
Chuck Fieldman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
